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From major radio stations to new entrants, there are already more than 550 radio stations available on DAB+. It is often presented as the radio of the future. Starting this week, this new technology is being given its first publicity campaign. Supported by the Ministry of Culture and orchestrated by the Ensemble pour le DAB+ association (Bureau de la radio, Sirti, Radio France), the campaign includes billboards in the Paris metro and several major French cities, radio adverts, promotion on social networks, etc. "The aim is to achieve at least the same level of coverage as FM, between 80% and 90% of the population, within the next few years," says Hervé Godechot, chair of the working group.

PSN Infrastruktura has launched a DAB+ transmitter in Włocławek. Emitel informs Wirtualnemedia.pl that there are still seven sites left to complete the process of extending the reach of the Polish Radio multiplex. As many as five of them are expected to be launched later this month. Polish Radio's DAB+ multiplex is now operational in Włocławek and the surrounding area. The broadcast on channel 11A from the facility in Szpetal Górny is carried with a power of 2.4 kW.

The "Ensemble pour le DAB+" association is announcing the launch of its first communication campaign aimed at the general public from 29 January 2024. The campaign is supported by the French Ministry of Culture. This large-scale, multi-media campaign, produced by the Bronx agency, is based on: A radio campaign based around a common spot broadcast on a massive scale by all the radio stations belonging to the association, whether private, public, local or national, i.e. almost the entire audience of the medium, which reaches almost 70% of the French population aged 13 and over every day. A poster campaign in the Paris metro, outdoors in the Ile-de-France region and in Nantes, Strasbourg, Lyon and Lille. A campaign on the social networks of the association's member radio stations.

Throughout 2023, TDF's teams largely continued their work on deploying DAB+ digital radio in mainland France. In all, 100 DAB+ transmitters were brought into service at 70 TDF broadcasting sites in Occitanie, Lorraine, Limousin, Brittany, Anjou and the South-West, etc. TDF's operations are currently focused on the second phase of the roll-out of the two national coverage multiplexes (M1 and M2), each comprising thirteen radio stations. Since October, for these two multiplexes, TDF has started up 44 transmitters in accordance with the DAB+ rollout plan steered by ARCOM. Deployment of phase 2 will be completed towards the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Trigger FM began broadcasting via DAB+ in Saarland just under a year ago. The private radio station can now also be received terrestrially in the greater Hamburg area. The former ERF Jess slot in the multiplex for private broadcasters on channel 10D is being used. Trigger FM has thus secured capacity in the regional private radio multiplex in the Hanseatic city, on which it broadcasts with a radiation power of 10 kW. In Hamburg's second regional private radio multiplex on channel 12C, the broadcasting power is 4 kW.

To mark its 10th anniversary, maradio.be (which brings together the public and private radio sector) will be holding its next Digital Radio Day on 12 March 2024. maradio.be will be sharing the latest information on the digital transition of radio in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Belgium. maradio.be will be exclusively presenting the results of the 6th wave of the IPSOS/maRadio.be survey, and will be welcoming Bénédicte Linard, Minister for the Media of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, to discuss the Government's vision of the digital evolution of the radio medium. maradio.be will be giving an update on the development of Radioplayer worldwide, in the company of Yann Legarson, its director. Finally, maradio.be will welcome Jacqueline Bierhorst, President of WorldDAB, who will talk about her strategy and the development of DAB+ around the world.

Wirtualnemedia.pl speaks to Polish Radio's new editor-in-chief Paweł Majcher. Does the company want to spend as much on DAB+ digital broadcasting as in previous years? Will all stations broadcasting in this standard continue to operate? "I think that when it comes to costs, it does not matter whether we are talking about one or five stations. In general, DAB+ broadcasting is definitely cheaper than FM. The DAB+ project is good, it is developing. I am planning a meeting with the president of Emitel regarding the continuation of the project," Majcher says. "Commercial stations are reluctant to join this solution because they fear losing their existing revenues. They fear a change in the advertising market. However, we think it is inevitable."

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) has further expanded its DAB+ network and switched on the Geigant transmitter (Waldmünchen-Sinzendorf). The Upper Palatinate Mux is broadcast on channel 6C and the Bavaria-wide ensemble on channel 11D, each with a power of 6.3 kW.

The consortium company Radio Digitale Veneto, a local DAB+ network operator that is part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system, has started experimenting with DAB+ broadcasting from the facility located in the municipality of Roncà, on Monte Calvarina, a ridge in the Lessini mountains, between the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. Radio Digitale Veneto operates on frequency 8C. With this activation, a further site is added to the many already activated by the consortium companies that are part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system.

Not only existing radio stations that can be tuned in on the FM band, but also completely new entities that have not been available via analogue broadcasting so far, are exploring the possibility of entering the DAB+ platform. Czech Radiokomunikace revealed some of the details of the planned network build-out at a meeting with journalists on Tuesday. "We are negotiating with existing radio players, but among the interested parties there are also completely new entities that are not currently active in FM broadcasting at all," Marcel Procházka, director of the legal and regulatory department of the ČRA, told the Digital Radio portal.